The secret to making the best pies is using the best-possible ingredients. In the fall and winter, when apple season is at its peak, warm, tender apple pies line holiday tables. Come springtime and its bounty of rhubarb, strawberry-rhubarb pies are the must-have variety. But now it’s summer, which means that bright blueberries are ripe for picking. This season, slice up one of Food Network’s favorite blueberry pies below, each an indulgent dessert of fresh fruit, light, flaky pastry and sweet summertime flavor.

5. Blueberry Pie With Chantilly Cream – A fancy name for vanilla-scented whipped cream, French Chantilly cream tops this decadent pie, built atop a sweet crust and filled with a mixture of thick blueberry compote and whole blueberries.

4. Frozen Blueberry Pie – Though Alton’s pie is served at room temperature, it’s made with fresh whole and mashed blueberries that he freezes with citrus and sugar then bakes.

There’s no doubt that apple and pumpkin are among some of the most popular pie varieties, but nothing beats a fresh berry or peach pie, especially when the fruits are at their peak. Now, imagine cleaning handfuls of fresh cherries, drying them off and taking time to prepare the filling mixture. You’ve rolled out the crust, baked off the pie and let it cool. The vanilla ice cream is ready and you cut the first piece, only to see your filling run around the pie plate, creating a mushy crust. How can you keep your pie from running and what pie thickeners are appropriate? We asked Food Network Kitchens for their expertise.

The “juiciness” that happens when fruit cooks in a pie is most copious with fruits like berries and peaches, fruits that have a lot of juice, especially during the summer. We use thickeners to add body to these juices so that they can stay inside the pie — or at least close to it — so when we cut into it, the crust stays crisp and the whole thing is more fun to eat.